Dice maze puzzle

ABSTRACT

A cube having a maze contained therein through which a ball is movable. The puzzle has a transparent outer enclosure containing the maze and ball. Nontransparent intermediate walls are positioned inwardly of each transparent wall providing a space on each side of the cube in which the ball is freely movable. The nontransparent intermediate walls are provided with the holes through which the ball is passable to the maze within the intermediate walls. One hole is bisected by an inner wall thereby allowing the ball to go in one of two opposite directions. The maze extends vertically and horizontally through the cube.

[4 1 Jan. 15, 1974 United States Patent [1 1 Smith DICE MAZE PUZZLE752,110 7/1956 Great Britain.,.................... 273/109 d R r 0 n a 6H M 6 4 (H M m 8 0 D- mm Km 0 Mn I n 0 n 6 V n 1 1 6 7 l [22] Filed:Apr. 17, 1972 [21] Appl 244582 Primary Examiner-Richard C. PinkhamAssistant Examiner-Richard J. Apley T C M y n T S n B A V n h 0 m r m AU RWZ WR 3/ ll 7 7/ U O T, 7 6 2 4 m m Ms M 9 6 3 u 5 m M 9ul- U NW 1mmW m mm 2 n mmh mmm m m I 1 y C0 7 8 .M mtm UIF 1:1] 2 00 555 A cubehaving a maze contained therein through which a ball is movable. Thepuzzle has a transparent outer enclosure containing the maze and ball.Non- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS transparentintermediate walls are positioned inwardly of each transparent wallproviding a space on each side of the cube in which the ball is freelymovable. The nontransparent intermediate walls are provided with theholes through which the ball is passable to the maze within theintermediate walls. One hole is bi sected by an inner wall therebyallowing the ball to go in one of two opposite directions. The mazeextends vertically and horizontally through the cube.

3 993 XX XR 1U 111 1 ///4 3R 333/ 7 77767 2 12224 5 u u u n N FORElGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,146,275 9/1957 France 273/153 R 8 Claims, 5Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN 1 5 1914 SHEET 1 BF 2 PATENTEBJAN slamSiiEHZMQ DICE MAZE PUZZLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention is in the field of maze puzzles.

2. Description of the Prior Art Disclosed herein is yet another puzzlehaving a maze therein with a ball movable through the maze. The puzzledisclosed herein is better than the prior art puzzles in that the ballis movable to each side of the cubical main body of the puzzle. Eachside of the cubical main body is provided with a different number ofholes thereby giving an appearance of a die. In addition, a wall bisectsone of the holes thereby providing for the travel of the ball in one oftwo opposite directions depending on which side of the hole the ballenters. Also, markings are provided on the main body so as to indicatethe number of holes on the adjacent sides which are not visible to aperson unless the main body is turned over.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention is apuzzle comprising a ball,a main body having a plurality of inner wallsarranged in a maze and a plurality of nontransparent intermediate wallspositioned outwardly of and enclosing the inner walls to conceal themaze with each intermediate wall having at least one hole for the ballto pass from the maze and through the intermediate wall, the body havinga plurality of transparent outer walls spaced outwardly from andenclosing the intermediate walls forming storage areas, the ball isrollable from a first position between one of the outer walls and one ofthe intermediate walls by tilting and moving the puzzle until the balldrops through one of the holes in the one intermediate wall and thenthrough the maze and out a hole in another one of the intermediate wallsto a second position between one of the intermediate walls and one ofthe outer walls.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedpuzzle.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hiddenmaze puzzle having a self contained ball which is movable through and toeach side of the puzzle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a hidden mazepuzzle having a plurality of holes through which a ball is movable withat least one of the holes having a divider so as to direct the ball inone of two opposite directions depending upon the side of the hole theball enters.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apuzzle incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an opposite end view of the puzzle of FIG. 1 with the puzzlebeing turned upside down.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the spacing frame 30 positioned betweenthe outer walls and intermediate walls of the puzzle of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 in a perspective view of the intermediate wall assemblypositioned within the frame of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded fragmentary view of the maze within theintermediate wall assembly of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting anunderstanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now bemade to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific languagewill be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understoodthat no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended,such alterations and further modification in the illustrated device, andsuch further applications of the principles of the invention asillustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to oneskilled in the art to which the invention relates.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a puzzle whichhas the overall appearance of a die. The die is cubical having sixidentical sides 11 through 16. A transparent plastic container providesthe outer walls of the puzzle and includes a top wall 21 and bottom wall22 secured to side walls 23, 24, 25 and 26 by means such as adhesives.Positioned immediately inward and adjacent transparent container 20 is aframe 30 which may be made from a material such as wood or plastic.Frame 30 includes a square top wall 31 and bottom wall 32 spaced apartand connected together by vertical struts 33. The struts are spacedapart forming square openings therebetween. Likewise, a square openingis provided in walls 31 and 32. It is understood that although squareopenings are shown, any type of rectangular opening, circular opening orany other shape of opening is included in the present invention. Spacedimmediately inward and adjacent frame 30 is a cubical box which includessix identically sized walls 41 through 46, each of which has a hole forfreely receiving a spherical ball 17. A plurality of inner walls aremounted within box 40 and are arranged in a maze for ball 17 to traversein order for the ball to move from one side of the puzzle to anotherside of the puzzle.

The number of holes on each of the intermediate walls 41 through 46 isdifferent. The number of holes on each intermediate wall ranges from onehole to six holes with the holes positioned on the body in a dicearrangement. For example, wall 41 is provided with a single hole 47,wall 42 is provided with a pair of holes 60 and wall 43 is provided withthree holes 61. Likewise, walls 44, 45 and 46 are provided respectivelywith six holes, five holes, and four holes.

Frame 30 is made of bars which extend along each edge of box 40 andcontainer 20. The frame bars contact both the intermediate walls of box40 and the outer walls of container 20 forming a separate rectangularspace on each side of the puzzle. Ball 17 is freely movable in eachspace and may pass from one side of the puzzle to another side of thepuzzle only by first passing through a hole in one of the intermediatewalls, and then through the maze within box 40 until eventually it exitsan intermediate wall. Frame 30 separates each space from every otherspace so that the ball may move from one space to another space only bypassing through the intermediate walls of the maze.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of box 40 with sides 41, 43, 44 and 46removed for sake of clarity. Box 40 includes four separate walls 50through .53 which are connected to and between walls 42 and 45. Walls 45and 50 through 53 are each provided with a plurality of inner wallsarranged in a maze. The maze is not visible since the intermediate walls41 through 46 are nontransparent. Walls 50 through 53 are provided withholes to allow the ball to pass from one level to another level. Theupstanding walls mounted atop walls 45 and 50 through 53 arerespectively secured to the bottom surfaces of walls 50 through 53 and42 providing an assembly 49 to which intermediate walls 41, 43, 44 and46 are secured by means, such as adhesives. An inner wall 54 (FIG. 4)bisects hole 47 and is adjacent to the inside surface of wall 41. Thus,when ball 17 drops through hole 47, wall 54 will divert the ball ineither the direction of arrow 55 or the direction of arrow 56. That is,the ball will be diverted in either of two opposite directions. Hole 47is the only hole which is elliptical and bisected by a wall. In theevent that the ball moves in the direction of arrow 55, then it will hitwall 80. The ball will then travel upwardly in the direction of arrow 59through space 84 of wall 52. The ball may then move in the direction ofarrow 83 passing through one of the holes 64 (FIG. 1) of wall 46. Two ofthe holes of wall 46 are aligned with locations 70 of wall 52 whereasthe other two holes 64 are aligned with locations 70 of wall 50.Alternatively, the ball may travel in the direction of arrow 56 and thenthrough space 85 of wall 51 in the direction of arrow 57. The ball willcontinue in the direction of arrow 57 through wall 50 thereby contactingwall 45 and eventually passing through one of the holes 65 of wall 45 asshown by arrow 58. Thus, it may be seen that the ball is movable from afirst position such as located between walls 25 and 41 to a secondposition located between walls 45 and 22. The inner walls are arrangedin five separate subassemblies such as shown by walls 45, 50, 51, 52 and53 which are then stacked together.

A plurality of passages from each side leading to all the other sidesare provided by the inner walls. The outer walls are transparent andplastic but do not have any openings thereby preventing the ball fromescaping from the puzzle. Holes 64 by side 12 (FIG. 1) are aligned withlocations 70 of FIG. 5. Holes 63 by side 11 (FIG. 1) are aligned withlocations 71 (FIG. of walls 50 through 52. The three holes 61 ofintermediate wall 43 (FIG. 4) are aligned with locations 89 of walls 50through 52. Holes 60 of wall 42 are positioned immediately over areas 62of wall 53.

Markings 34 are provided on frame 30 to indicate the number of holes onthe adjacent cube side. For example, when viewing the puzzle from thetop as shown in FIG. 2, two holes are visible on side 14. Three dots arelocated on frame 30 as viewed from the top thereby indicating that theadjacent side 16 is provided with three holes. Likewise, a single dot isprovided on the frame as viewed from the top thereby indicating that theadjacent side is provided with only a single hole.

By slanting and tilting the puzzle, the ball will roll into any hole.Several games may be played utilizing the puzzle. For example, turn theball side of the cube up, with this side remaining up, roll the ballinto any hole at random. The ball will then fall into your number forthe game (at any time the sum of 2 loses, 1 wins). Turn the ball side upand attempt to roll the sum of your game numbers. Do this with ease thenstart the following games.

Seven-Eleven Rotate the cube to bring the ball side up, with the ballside remaining up, roll the ball into a selected hole (noting the holesrelative location for future reference). The ball will then fall intoyour first score. Now with the ball side up, roll the ball into anotherselected hole which will add to your first score (seven or I 1 wins, twoor 12 and over loses).

Craps Craps is played in the same manner as Seven-Eleven except that youcan stop at any time with your score, up to and including 12, andattempt to match that score with a second series of rolls (a sum of 2anytime loses, seven or 1 I does not win on the second series).

Four Ball Roll the numbers l, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in any order, and then 4.Number 4 is a loser any other time during the game.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionare desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

l. A puzzle comprising a ball, a six sided main body having a pluralityof spaced apart parallel inner walls each having arranged thereonupstanding walls in a maze configuration, at least one of saidupstanding walls of at least one of said inner walls having at least onemaze opening, and a plurality of nontransparent intermediate wallspositioned outwardly of and enclosing said inner walls to conceal saidinner walls with each intermediate wall having at least one hole, andhaving said at least one hole aligned with said at least one inner walland said at least one maze opening for said ball to pass from said atleast one inner wall and through said intermediate wall, said bodyhaving a plurality of transparent outer walls spaced outwardly from andenclosing said intermediate walls forming six separate storage areaswith one of said six separate storage areas located on each side of saidsix sided main body, said body having means mounted thereon separatingsaid storage areas apart and preventing said ball from passing from onestorage area to another storage area without first pasing through a mazeconfiguration, said ball being rollable from a first position betweenone of said outer walls and one of said intermediate walls by tiltingand moving said puzzle until said ball drops through said at least onehole in said one of said intermediate walls onto said at least one ofsaid innerwalls and then through said maze configuration, then onto atleast one other inner wall and through its maze configuration until itreaches said maze opening therein aligned with a hole in another one ofsaid intermediate walls and then out to a second position between saidanother one of said intermediate walls and another one of said outerwalls.

2. The puzzle of claim 1 wherein said body is a cube with the number ofholes of each of said intermediate walls is different and ranging fromone to six and with the holes positioned on said body in a diearrangement.

3. The puzzle of claim 2 wherein one of said holes is bisected by one ofsaid upstanding walls to divert said ball in either of two oppositedirections.

4. The puzzle of claim 3 wherein the hole bisected is the only hole onone of said intermediate walls.

5. The puzzle of claim 4 wherein said means includes spacing barsextending along each end of the cube, said bars contact said outer wallsand said intermediate walls forming said storage areas on each side ofthe 7. The puzzle of claim 6 wherein said maze configuration includes aplurality of passages per each side which lead to other sides, and saidouter walls being imperforate thereby preventing said ball from escapingsaid main body.

8. The puzzle of claim 6 wherein said markings include a number of dotsmarked on said bars ranging from one dot to six dots in each set.

1. A puzzle comprising a ball, a six sided main body having a plurality of spaced apart parallel inner walls each having arranged thereon upstanding walls in a maze configuration, at least one of said upstanding walls of at least one of said inner walls having at least one maze opening, and a plurality of nontransparent intermediate walls positioned outwardly of and enclosing said inner walls to conceal said inner walls with each intermediate wall having at least one hole, and having said at least one hole aligned with said at least one inner wall and said at least one maze opening for said ball to pass from said at least one inner wall and through said intermediate wall, said body having a plurality of transparent outer walls spaced outwardly from and enclosing said intermediate walls forming six separate storage areas with one of said six separate storage areas located on each side of said six sided main body, said body having means mounted thereon separating said storage areas apart and preventing said ball from passing from one storage area to another storage area without first pasing through a maze configuration, said ball being rollable from a first position between one of said outer walls and one of said intermediate walls by tilting and moving said puzzle until said ball drops through said at least one hole in said one of said intermediate walls onto said at least one of said innerwalls and then through said maze configuration, then onto at least one other inner wall and through its maze configuration until it reaches said maze opening therein aligned with a hole in another one of said intermediate walls and then out to a second position between said another one of said intermediate walls and another one of said outer walls.
 2. The puzzle of claim 1 wherein said body is a cube with the number of holes of each of said intermediate walls is different and ranging from one to six and with the holes positioned on said body in a die arrangement.
 3. The puzzle of claim 2 wherein one of said holes is bisected by one of said upstanding walls to divert said ball in either of two opposite directions.
 4. The puzzle of claim 3 wherein the hole bisected is the only hole on one of said intermediate walls.
 5. The puzzle of claim 4 wherein said means includes spacing bars extending along each end of the cube, said bars contact said outer walls and said intermediate walls forming said storage areas on each side of the cube in which said ball is freely movable, said bars separate each space from every other space with said ball being movable from one space to another space only by passing through said intermediate walls and said maze configuration.
 6. The puzzle of claim 5 and further comprising markings on each side of the cube to indicate the number of holes on the adjacent cube sides, said markings being arranged in 24 different sets with four sets positioned on each side of said six sided main body.
 7. The puzzle of claim 6 wherein said maze configuration includes a plurality of passages per each side which lead to other sides, and said outer walls being imperforate thereby preventing said ball from escaping said main body.
 8. The puzzle of claim 6 wherein said markings include a number of dots marked on said bars ranging from one dot to six dots in each set. 